TRIVIUM | What The Dead Men Say | Album Review

One of the year's most anticipated albums has finally arrived. Trivium has been a hot button band for a while at this point as their success and acclaim has grown substantially. That trend is not slowing down with their ninth studio album "What The Dead Men Say". Coming directly after "The Sin And The Sentence", the band's best album to date and a masterpiece that got music fans to pay attention to them following a couple of lesser albums, "What The Dead Men Say" has some lofty expectations by many. In the period of time between album cycles, frontman Matt Heafy has been extremely busy tending to family and recording covers for the fans. This kept him off the road for a bit, but now Heafy and his band are back in action to deliver the followup to a standard-setting album. About the overall tone of the album and what to expect, the frontman described the album as having elements of every Trivium album put into a blender to make a very calculated mix. "On this album, one can hear the proper ingredients of past, present, and future Trivium. The Trivium sound is having everything the band does- on one album." Corey Beaulieu, the guitarist, also stated that this album was set to build on the foundation created with the last album as well as capture the amount of energy Trivium has. The band even brought Josh Wilbur in again to produce the new music, and seeing how the previous project turned out, "What The Dead Men Say" is on a road to success paved in gold and diamonds.

Starting off the album is the title track, "Catastrophist", and "Amongst The Shadows & The Stones". All three of these were released before "What The Dead Men Say", and anyone worried that the band wouldn't be able to surpass or, at the very least, match the greatness of the previous album will be proven wrong. The title track kicks the album off after an intro entitled "IX". I love it when a band uses an intro track effectively, and it does an excellent job at getting people excited for what they're about to hear. Then, the title track starts, and it's impressive. This is what fans of "The Sin And The Sentence" wanted from this album. The musicianship is at its best possible level, especially when it comes to Alex Bent's drumming on this album and the stellar guitarwork. "Catastrophist" is the lead single from this album, and the appeal is magnified with this fantastic song. Trivium is at their best when it comes to their longer songs, and this song being nearly six and a half minutes is definitely a good thing. "Amongst The Shadows & The Stones" is also an example of Trivium making fantastic metal music, and all of the pre-released material from this album is the proof you need in order to realize that this band deserves all of the acclaim they get. Each one of these songs is intense, hard-hitting, and well written. All of the band members are at their best on these three tracks, and it shows that the downer period that the band experienced for much of the early 2010s was gracefully and gallantly thwarted.

The rest of the album is exactly what the band members described it as. This is a well layered brew of every element in this band's arsenal all in one package. It's important to note that "The Sin And The Sentence" also carried that description during the time it was fresh, so you could in theory look at this album as a continuation of its predecessor. Both albums are very similar to each other but in different ways, though one thing that's accurate about both albums is that they're absolutely stellar and lack any weak ends. As stated earlier, Trivium really sucks you in with the longer tracks on the album, particularly "Sickness Unto You" and the closing track "The Ones We Leave Behind". These are the tracks where you really get entranced by how competent and impressive the music from the backing band is, especially in the case of Alex Bent who once again give us some of the most excellent drumwork this year. Matt Heafy is just as impressive as the vocalist, as he's really perfected his delivery since Trivium first came to prominence. It is really the music on this album, though, that is its best asset, and there is no denying that. Tracks like all of the aforementioned songs, as well as "The Defiant" and "Bending The Arc To Fear" and slower tracks like "Bleed Into Me" and the radio friendly "Scattering The Ashes", are filled with impressive riffs, solos, drumming, and everything that made their last album fantastic. It truly is what Trivium accels at, and any expectation that one has for this album will be met.

I would have liked to see Trivium go even longer on some of these tracks. That's not really a negative complaint as all of the songs on "What The Dead Men Say" are great. But because the longer tracks on here are so good and Trivium's instrumental side is near perfection, I would have loved to see them break the six-minute threshold to give us a seven or eight minute long song or even a ten minute song. That would have blown a lot of minds collectively. Also, "Bleed Into Me" isn't nearly as good as the other songs. It is still a great song, but it is definitely not my favorite on such an impressive album. However, there is nothing that's bad about Trivium's ninth offering. None of these songs feel out of place or jilted or off-putting. Every song on this album is worth hearing and it builds upon every element that made their previous album so fantastic. It's an album that meets all expectations that are to be had and it is proof that Matt Heavy and the rest of Trivium are in a pretty good place right now despite being busy in their personal lives. It's an example of a band meeting expectations after wowing people with a previous record, and while I don't think this album is nearly as excellent as "The Sin And The Sentence", I'm still calling this album excellent, and that's what others will do after one listen the full album. Overall, "What The Dead Men Say" is a gorgeously enthralling continuation of the heavy instrumentation and phenomenal material showcased on the band's previous release, and it makes you realize why you got into the metal genre in the first place. This is essential hearing, no matter what anyone, dead or alive, will say that is in opposition of your stance.

RATING: 9/10

Leave your thoughts about this album in the comments section below. Was this album good or bad? Was it a surprise or a disappointment? All you have to do is type it in. Everybody's opinions matter even if they are different than mine. Please feel free to enjoy my content on the Scamp4553 Deviantart account as well, including other lists, reviews, and other series. Also, if you'd like to get a glimpse at all of the insanity that goes on outside of this site, check me out as Scamp4553 on Instagram and as SimbaKoda444 on YouTube. And of course, more content is coming your way soon. Take care.